I don’t know what it says about me that after 5 years of blogging, I can still find vegetables that I’ve never written about (or cooked with, to be honest about it). I’m afraid it means that I get stuck in a rut, using the same tried and true ingredients over and over again, but when I’m feeling a bit more charitable toward myself, I blame it on the local grocery stores, which don’t get a lot of new-to-me produce, and when they do, it’s often old and sickly-looking from lack of anyone buying it regularly. So a combination of these reasons is how parsnips come to make their first appearance on this blog. Oh, how I wish I’d discovered them sooner!
Parsnips look like white carrots, and you want to buy them when they’re all stiff and cream-colored and pert, not floppy and browning and sad. I found the stiff and happily organic kind recently at the local co-op, and a conversation with one of the produce guys convinced me that I should either (a) roast them or (b) make them into soup. Being the raging non-conformist that I am I decided to do both, simultaneously. Before I pureed the roasted parsnips, though, I took a nibble (or three) and discovered that I loved them straight out of the oven, totally unadorned. I had to press on with my planned parsnip soup, though I’m sure that roasted parsnips will be making another appearance on this blog soon.
And now the bad news: This recipe is not for everyone. Parsnips have a sweet flavor, brought out by roasting, that some people (ahem E) object to in a soup. D and I loved this soup–it grew on D, as his comments went from “interesting” to “good” to “delicious” to “May I finish off the rest of the pot?” The mushrooms add a little earthiness, but if you’re not sure about the sweet, skip this soup and wait for my next parsnip recipe. I promise you won’t have to wait another 5 years.
Roasted Parsnip and Garlic Soup with Mushrooms
Ingredients
- 1 pound parsnips , peeled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 head garlic
- 1 small onion , thinly sliced
- 1 rib celery (including leaves), chopped
- 4-5 cups No-Chicken broth
- 1/4 teaspoon white pepper or to taste (white pepper adds spiciness)
- 1/2 cup great northern beans
- 6-8 ounces mushrooms , stemmed and sliced
- 1 green onion , sliced thin
- salt to taste
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F. Place the parsnip cubes on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper or a silicone mat. Cut the top off of the head of garlic, just enough to expose the tops of the cloves. Place it on a square of aluminum foil, spritz it quickly with a 1/2-second spray of olive oil (optional), and wrap it up. Place it on the baking sheet with the parsnips and put it into the oven. Bake for 15 minutes, turn over the parsnips, and cook for 10-15 more minutes until parsnips are tender and just touched with brown. Remove from oven and allow the garlic to cool in its wrapper.
- Heat a non-stick saucepan and cook the onion until it’s translucent. Add the celery and cook for a couple minutes more. Add 3 cups of the broth, the parsnips, and the pepper. Squeeze the garlic out of the cloves into the pan. Cook for a few minutes, until parsnips have softened. Add the beans.
- Puree the soup in one of two ways: (1)place it into a blender in one or two batches, being careful not to fill more than half full and adding more broth if necessary (preferred), or (2) use a stick blender and carefully blend right in the pan. The smoother you get it, the better, so a Vita-Mix or other high-powered blender is great here. Return the pureed soup to the pan and warm over low heat. If the soup is too thick, add more broth until it reaches your desired consistency. Keep it covered because it will “erupt” from time to time.
- Cook the sliced mushrooms in a small non-stick skillet until they soften and release their juices. Season them with salt and add the green onion. Stir most of them into the soup, setting some nice-looking ones aside to use as a garnish. Season with salt and white pepper to taste (careful with the white pepper if you don’t like things spicy!)
Notes
Nutritional info is approximate.
Other Bloggers Do Parsnips:
Curried Parsnip Soup from Novel Eats
Parsnip Cake at Veganbaking.net (do not look if you’re on a diet!)
Puréed Roasted Parsnips Recipe at Simply Recipes (veganizable)
Parsnip and wild rice mulligatawny by Allotment 2 Kitchen
Slow Cooker Vegan Lentil Parsnip Soup by Geek, Poet, Housewife, Wannabe
Seasonal Spotlight: Parsnips on The Kitchn
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Maria
stack at home with snow for 3 days and no parsnips but I have all the other ingredients of this gorgeous soup I want to make it, but do you think I can use butternut squash instead of the parsnips?
SusanV
Definitely! I love roasted butternut in soups, and I can’t see why it wouldn’t go well with roasted garlic and mushrooms. You may want to change the white pepper to something more aromatic, like curry powder or allspice.
mary (what's cookin' with mary)
I really like the addition of beans to this soup… way to up the protien ! looks so smooth and delish. Need to try this recipe…. but i better do it fast bc I just checked the weather report and it says mide to upper 70’s for this weekend ?! 😀
sweet road
This looks delicious! Mushrooms are the non- meat eaters meat!
… Or maybe that’s just me.
veggie wedgie
This soup looks delicious!
wendy (healthy girls kitchen)
I love parsnips! In soup, roasted . . . maybe it’s a cutural thing but I grew up eating parsnips (matzoh ball soup anyone?). Thanks for featuring this obscure but worthy veggie! And again, beautiful photo!!!!
Christina
Yummmmm! This looks so good…I love mushrooms AND parsnips! I had no idea what a parsnip was until I was studying in England and one of my flatmates roasted some up one night…it was heaven and I fell in love after one bite. They are ridiculously underrated (and unknown!) in this country. I’ll have to try this soup out and post again when I do 🙂
Tom
What a gorgeous picture!!! You have a gift!! Thank you so much for sharing!!
Julia
I just happen to have way too many parsnips (and mushrooms!) in my fridge. Some of them will be thrown into a very good oriental-style vegan parsnip-weet potato-carrot-stew, but the rest of the parsnips are gonna find their way in that delicious soup of yours. It looks perfect! Thank you for the recipe!
Kristi Link
I love parsnips! They always make me think of my Gramma. She grew them in her garden and cooked them often. Even in the dead of winter in Ohio, she had special treats waiting in her garden… kale, parsnips, brussels sprouts. Yum!
Looking forward to trying this soup out!
Kristi
Sally
This soup sounds really lovely- especially with the added beans. i do love your recipes Susan- I first discovered your blog when I lived in the States. I’m a Brit and I could never find parsnips in Texas, which was such a shame. It may be because they don’t have really sharp frosts down there- apparently parsnips need that. Here in England (where we have a lot of frosts!) they are a staple part of the diet, especially roast or in soup, but also mashed. For those of you who fancy experimenting with them a bit they also go beautifully with a hint of chilli and / or cumin, especially in a soup. Parsnip and apple soup with cumin is heavenly!
Joann
Hey, Susan……love your website, and make your recipes all the time.
Anyway, I have this internal editor that is always popping up when I’m reading things other people have written. I can’t help it. Anyway, if you care to correct it, and you may not, as most everyone who finds this little error will know what you meant, it’s the line where you referred to parsnips as potatoes. For the record, it’s the first time I’ve ever run across a typo on your site, so there! You’re grammatically great! Love your writing style, and your recipes. And, oh yeah, the fact that you’re a Southern girl AND a vegan doesn’t hurt….don’t find too many of those, do ya?
Rock on!
SusanV
Thanks, Joann! I always appreciate it when people point out typos because I cringe when I find them myself, weeks or even years later. I definitely prefer to be alerted right away. I’ll take a look at the post right now to find the error.
kasha thefarmgirlcooks
This is so timely! Our CSA share this week includes parsnips. I cannot wait to give my customers the link to your recipe. Thanks so much.
Katelyn @ Chef Katelyn
I love garlic, and parsnips, and mushrooms!! I can’t wait to try this, I have been all about the soups lately:)
Kathleen @ Kat's Health Corner
OHMYGOSH, I really want to make this!!! I’m been wanting to try parsnips, and I think this sounds like the perfect way. Thanks! 🙂
alexandra
thank you for actually making a fat free recipe! (many of yours are not, or are too sugary)
what could i substitute instead of mushrooms? i’m on the candida cleanse and sadly cannot have them :/
Danielle
Thank You Susan! I enjoy eating parsnips and I just bought some so this soup is a welcome sight! I make parsnip veggie root soup often and I think your addition of northern beans sounds lovely! Happy healthy eating.
Danielle
M.C.
I love parsnips and cook with them on a regular basis. My favorite pairing is parsnip with pear. I made a soup and latkes with this combination and they were spectacular.
Johanna GGG
lovely soup – I am a huge parsnip fan so was pleased to see you are too – and surprised to see they aren’t more common around you – I often roast them in winter and add them to stews – can higly recommend a parsnip, chestnut and orange soup if you are looking for variations or even in a nut roast if you like that sort of thing – you can also substitute them for carrots in carrot cake
Cara
This looks so creamy and velvety – I love it!
Sarah @ Flavoropolis
Roasted parsnips are so addictive! I’ve had them before, and I believe I’ve had parsnip soup, but combining the two is pure genius. I love the idea of a slightly sweet soup. Makes me wish I’d bought the immersion blender I was eyeing in the store today!
India Food
Looking great. Healthy and tasty recipe.
sylvia
This soup looks delicious! I’m definitely going to have to try it soon.
Parsnips are great roasted in strips along with carrots. All the surface area leads to beautiful brown bits on the carrots and parsnips.
Another great use for parsnips is to mash them in with potatoes. Adds a nice sweetness to something so simple.
Jakethy
As a recently-become vegetarian, I have a new appreciation for the power of mushrooms. When I ate meat, I didn’t wanna look at ’em – nevermind the texture. But my girlfriend came up with a mushroom soup that I’d swear is sausage gravy… and what’s better than a big bowl of sausage gravy? (as long as there’ no sausage in it!) http://albioncooks.blogspot.com/2009/01/cream-of-portobello-mushroom-soup-vegan.html
My tiny, plastic co-writers and I will have to take a run at yours tho’ and see if that other one was just a fluke.
Jennifer (Delicieux)
This soup looks so good especially as it includes parsnip, which I love. It also looks lovely and hearty too!
pb
Hi Susan,
I have never eaten parsnips either, but this seems to be a great way to try a new vegetable. I just hope its not radishy, ‘coz I could never develop a liking for radishes.
thanks,
pb
SusanV
No, I didn’t find it radishy, more carroty, but different. I hope you like it! Tell me what you think it tastes like if you try it.
Paula
when I`m looking at this I`m really hungry 🙂 with such delicious combo it must be awesome! I`m so glad I found your blog and I`m going to stop by your blog more often 🙂
Peggy
Parsnips are definitely one of my favorite root vegetables so I know I would just LOVE this soup! It looks absolutely stunning!
Susan
To celebrate that the sun actually shined bright in NJ today, I made this soup! It is a winner! The roasted garlic really enhances the flavor and I am sure it will taste even better tomorrow. Thanks Sue for another wonderful recipe!
Tara
Hello! I just stumbled across your site and have been looking through several of your delicious looking recipes! Due to a health condition I’m just starting a low fat vegetarian diet, and was feeling slightly discouraged after going through my go-to recipe websites and finding relatively little that fit both of those specifiers. I’m so thrilled to try some of your recipes!! thank you so much for posting so many beautiful ideas!!
braelin
Susan,
Your dishes are gorgeous here. Would you ever do a post on your dish collection? Do you collect one item of lots of patterns? It seems that you have so many- but surely you don’t have a whole set of everything that you show in your shoots (?). I’d love to know more! The soup looks delicious too…. 🙂
Red
Hello Susan…I’m having great trouble registering with your site, the passwords that are being given don’t seem to work. I’m trying to request permission to put your recipes up on my blog as Im trying to do a diary of meals I’ve cooked over the year and I use alot of yours. I give full credit where its due and post links to the sites where i’ve found them…I have already stated on my blog that yours is my favourtie site…but I’ve just read that you require permission to repost…Help? Please?
rocketandrosesvegankitchen.blogspot.com
Please advise? My intention is to pass on the word not steal or take credit for recipes that aren’t mine.
Best Wishes, Red
SusanV
I’m sorry to hear you’re having trouble registering. If you still want to try, send me your username and the password you want to use and I’ll set it up for you. My email address is kitchen AT fatfreevegan DOT com.
I would really appreciate it it you would post only links to the recipes and not the whole recipe. Having recipes appear in more than one place confuses the search engines as to which is the original site and which is the copy, and having my recipes spread around makes it unnecessary for people to visit my site. I put a lot of work into the site itself, as well as the recipe, so I’d like for people to come see it. 🙂 This is a good practice to follow for anyone’s blog, not just mine.
Red
Thanks for your quick reply. I shall email you the information if thats ok as I’m still having problems this end.
I’m still very new to this blogging stuff although I have been following yours and a couple of others for some time. So I’m still learning the etiquette as it were. I shall post links in the future.
And I do realise the hard work you’ve put in and would never disrespect that. Many thanks, Red
Simona
I made this soup yesterday…delicious!!! I’ve never had parsnips before (actually I don’t think I’ve ever even seen them in Italy) and I really liked them. I had a friend for lunch and he didn’t want to taste it…because he doesn’t like vegetables….useless to say he asked for more than one serving. Do you know how Dr Furhman classifies parsnips in E2L?
Heather
I made this soup last night and it was delicious! I almost ate the roasted parsnips & garlic on their own but I committed to the soup… very nice 🙂
shopway.com
Looks delicious! I will try it out! Thanks.
Anthony
Wow, I love garlic and mushrooms! Roasted garlic has a better taste than the raw one and it’s amazing when combined with other food! I just want to share with you my favorite tomato soup recipe.
http://www.fourgreensteps.com/community/recipes/soups-a-stews/fresh-tomato-soup-
Cindy
I am going to try it this weekend, sounds really good, mushroom, garlic and parsnip. Guess it is gonna be yummy.
Grace
Hi Susan,
I’m a vegan and I can’t wait to make this delicious looking soup. However, I’ve haven’t heard or seen “No- chicken broth.” Would vegetable stock or broth work?
Have a great weekend!
SusanV
Oops–I should have written that any type of vegetable broth will work. No-Chicken is just a brand of vegetable broth that tastes better than other boxed veg broth (though not really like chicken, fortunately). Any type of vegetable broth will do, and homemade would be even better.